0 
THE BUBAL NEW-YORKER 
besides many others, visit these trees to get the 
gum for sticking the threads of their houses to¬ 
gether. While thus engaged gathering the gum, 
they are so busy that they allow one to approach 
very dose to them. The trees are also a great 
resort for birds that make their domicile iu the 
branches, particularly Robins and Catbirds. 
Such trees are kept clear from insects, and afford 
a flue shade in summer and are very beautiful 
also in snowy weather, affording a plcasiug con¬ 
trast, in color to tlio puro white snow. A cluster 
of them near a farm-house or rural home, affords 
ranch pleasant interest to the family, and to 
thoso who are fond of bird life. h. h. 
-»•»-» 
CATALOGUES, &c., RECEIVED. 
Geo. Ache lis, Morris Nnrseries, West Ches¬ 
ter, l\>un.—Wholesale trado list of fruit, decidu¬ 
ous and evergreen trees, shrubs, and greenhouse 
plants. 
J. C. I’LUJtB & Sox, Green Hill Nurseries, Mil- 
ton, Wis.—Descriptive price list of ornamental 
trees and shrubs -apple trees, with explicit di¬ 
rections for full care and planting. 
Petek Henderson & Co., 30 Oonrtlandt Rt., 
New York.—Catalogue of bulbs for fall planting 
—plants for winter flowering—seeds for fall sow¬ 
ing small fruits and iloral requisites. 
George Stum, South Amboy, New Jersey.— 
Catalogue of some Stove and Green home Plants, 
including Orchids, Palais, Perns, etc. Ouo of 
the plainest, most trustworthy and comprehen¬ 
sive catalogues we receive. 
Crops. 
SEEDING LAND TO GRASS. 
ltY W. H. WHITE. 
The importance of the grass and hay crops 
makes this a timely subject for discussion. Al¬ 
though seeding to grass is a simple operation, 
different individuals adopt different modes in its 
performance, and am so generally success flit 
that there need bo no wonder at the variety of 
the opinions and theories entertained. In our 
climate, grass is tho spontaneous production of 
the soil when once divostod of its forest cover¬ 
ing. Nature provides moans of reproduction in 
the seed, etc., Of plants. During the summer, 
grass ripens and scatters its sted which, finding 
its way to the soil, sprouts and grows when cir¬ 
cumstances favor i's germination. Sometimes 
those circumstances favor its immediate growth, 
at others the seed lies dormant in tho earth a 
long time till, by tho disturbance of the ground, 
sufticiont air and moisture are admitted to pro¬ 
mote vegetation. All the seeds deposited by na¬ 
ture, or otherwise, seldom vegetate at the same 
time, some remaining weeks and even years be¬ 
fore making their appearance as grass. 
In seeding to grass, as well as to other crops, 
it is well to take 'ossous from nature, and if wo 
can assist her efforts or improve thereon, it is 
wiso to embrace the opportunity. Culture of all 
kinds is an artificial operation, and is designed 
to assist aud direct nature iu the development of 
her products for the benefit of man. 'Tin for 
this we plosv, bow, underdraw], etc. To assist 
nature to the greatest extent, we must prepare 
tho soil previously to depositing the seed. If 
there is a superabundance of moisture iu the 
surface soil, we must dram the land to carry it 
ofT ; and to produco the heat effects Wu should 
underdrain it, for surface drains are liable to get 
tilled water-grasses and weeds grow up io them, 
interfering with profitable culture, to say noth¬ 
ing of the waste of land. A heavy, hard subsoil 
should ho broken and loosened by subsoil plow- 
iug, the surface soil made deeper and liner by 
adding to its depth by successive plowing, while 
manure should ha well incorporated with it to 
.in nish the elements of nutrition for the growing 
plants. Ibis is all needful to bring the land into 
tilth, so that tho roots of the grasses may spread 
ami penetrate to a depth where they may obtain 
nourishment, and llourish even in a drought. 
Another point in seeding to grass, is whether 
a single, or several sorts of seeds should be used, 
some farmers advocating the sowing of one, and 
others that of several. For pasture, there can 
he no question but that several varieties are 
preferable to only ono ; for, where many kinds 
are used, the feed holds out more uniformly 
through the whole season, as the earliest are suc¬ 
ceeded by those maturing later, while tho variety 
furnishes a more satisfying and sustaining food, 
ti'oab throughout tbe eutire season, aud there¬ 
to!*.' better fitted to keep stock in good condition. 
Ro of different soils—one kind of grass is better 
adapted to certain soils than others, so that in 
seeding, varieties must be selected with refer¬ 
ence to the soli to he seeded. 
11 better results are secured by using a variety 
of gl'im; seeds on pasture, why may not tho tame 
uosirable results be attaiued where grass for hay 
is the object ? I know that the prevailing desire 
is to obtain a heavy first crop, and that it is de¬ 
sirable to have the grass mature at ono time ; 
but iu the light of science and experience, we 
find that gran* is better than woody fiber, or hay 
made from the blades of grass is more nutritious 
than that, mode from tho ripened stalks and 
blades. Accordingly, if we have some mature 
and others less so, we have a better feed than 
the mature alone—tho immature cooking, so to 
speak, the mature. 
Many farmers seem to think that it is essential 
that grass seed should be sown with some sort of 
grain crop; that the young grass should have 
some kind of protection while young ; but from 
my experience and observation, I find it not at 
all essential, or oven dosirablo, where grass and 
hay are the first object. Grass seed sown alone 
on well prepared ground, in September, will 
make an excellent stand and growth for the next 
season's cutting. When sown in early spring 
also, a fair crop may be realized, although fall 
seeding is the surer. Fall seeding on grounds 
which do not heave badly by freezing and thaw¬ 
ing, is preferable to spring, as tho ground is 
usually clean of weeds and the grass, starting 
into growth, fills the soil; while, if there ho any 
weed seeds, they sprout and frosts kill them, or 
they are choked out and die. 
On heavy clayey soils, these advantages are 
less fully attaiued; but earlier seeding, under 
favorablo circumstances, would be proforable to 
spring; but whore spring seeding on such soils 
is necessary, and seeding cannot be accomplished 
till after May 1, it is perhaps beat to sow some 
kind of grain thinly ut tho time of seeding, so 
that the grain may not smother or choke out tho 
grass. I find it best to sow' two or more varie¬ 
ties for hay, and sufficient in quantity to fill the 
soil at once, instead of waiting for others to 
“come in." The varieties I should select with 
reference to soil and local circumstances. Clover 
is most, sure when sowu iu early spring ; and for 
this reason, it is sown with other grain or on 
fall sown and stocked ground, tho best time 
being when there is u light fall of snow late in 
tho season, so that tho sown seed may be moro 
readily seen and tho molting away of tho snow 
may carry the seed down into the soil, whoro it 
may take root. 
A liberal seediug with grass seed will usually 
give a stand which will exclude weeds, etc., 
and being thick, the (.talks grow tine and tender, 
and are readily eaten by all kinds of stock ; 
whereas, in a thin seeding, tho stems are much 
coarser and are not so readily oaten, and are, 
moreover, much less digestible when eaten. Tho 
thick seeding forms a Award sooner and gives 
more adequate protection to tho roots at all 
times; and instead of having to wait for the 
roots to spread, or other grasses to corno in be¬ 
fore obtaining a full crop, a full ono is cut tho 
first season, aud tho aftermath is of much greater 
value. 
Worcester Co. Mass. 
$m\\ Croiionti). 
ECONOMY IN DRAWING MANURE. 
BY W. J. FOWLER. 
Most farmers waste a groat amount of time 
and team labor In getting out their manure piles. 
Waste in this particular, involves moro loss than 
hi any other. There is usually only a limited 
time available to get out the season's manure. 
What is not got out within this time is loft to 
waste in the barn-yard another pix or twelve 
months. The bus on this is enormous evon if 
there were no waste of fertilizing elements. 
The manure heap is the farmer’s capital. When 
put on lua fields, it pays him larger interest than 
any other investment, sometimes fifty or ono 
hundred per cent or more. Wheu left iu tho 
barnyard there is no interest, hilt with the best 
or Care tho principal is moro or less impaired. 
Let us see hew the rnauure is usually got out. 
The farmer in the morning sets his hired man 
ut the work alone, with one team and one wagon. 
He wifi get out eight to twel ve loads per day, ac¬ 
cording to the ease of pitching aud tho distance 
the manure lias to be drawn. Gall it ten loads, 
and you have had man aud team employed a 
whole day with very insignificant result. My 
way is always to draw with two wagons—one to 
be loaded in the barn-yard while the other is iu 
the field. Ono team only is needed, slipping the 
bolt from the w hi I lie-trees, dropping the tongue, 
and taking team aud whif'll e-trees from one wag¬ 
on to the other. It takes but a moment of lime 
and is much more easily as well as quickly done, 
than having two whifile-trees and unhitching 
the traces. It is hotter than having two teams, 
as there is constant emulation botweon the man 
in the field and the man at the heap to see which 
shall come out ahead of the other. Not enough 
use is made by farmers of this spirit of emula¬ 
tion. Farm work is mostly rather isolated, but 
it is better generally for two men to work togeth¬ 
er than for one man to work alone. Some hired 
men will do very little unless they have company. 
Rarely will any one do as much alone as lie would 
if working with others. This is one advantage 
which tho large farmer has over the small one. 
A single man, working alone, even if lie bo the 
farmer liiiuself, soon becomes listless and dis¬ 
couraged aud cannot work as well as in com¬ 
pany. 
In drawing manure, I use no wagou box : with 
two or three stout planks for the bottom, aud 
two wido boards for side pieces, tho rigging is 
complete. Arrived iu tho field, take off a 
bide hoard, and with a potato hook pull off 
enough manure for a heap; starting the team, 
another heap is made from tho other side, and 
then one from each end, making always live, and 
sometimes six or more heaps from tho load. I 
rake off in heaps because the manure is unload¬ 
ed so mneh more rapidly than by pitching. If 1 
had to pitch it. over a wagon-box, as is usually 
done, I should spread as I unloaded. It is in 
this rapid unloading that much of the saviug is 
made. If the distance to draw ia short or the 
manure inconveniout to got at, 1 sometimes find 
it better to have two men to load. Tho manure 
heaps are spread aftorward while the team is 
plowing or engaged iu other work. It is a ma¬ 
terial waste to allow horsed to ho idle while tho 
manure is being spread. 
The farmer himself should generally draw out 
the load. He knows hotter than any one else 
where the poorest spots are, and where the man¬ 
ure should ho spread thickest, liy raking off in 
heaps, the labor is considerably less than in 
loading. When drawing, I arrange it so as to 
pat the manure from Ihe hog-pen or other spot 
that is of extra strength on the poorest part of 
tho field. You can’t tell one lured man in a hun¬ 
dred how to do this. Many of them would not 
understand and many more would not care. 
Drawing manure is a work iu which more than 
any other the farmer himself should take a hand. 
If ho be a really good farmer he will hardly be 
content unless lie does. 
liy my method, drawing out manure with two 
wagons, and ono or somotimes two men in the 
barn-yard, I can get out twenty-five to thirty-five 
loads per day. This summer, in drawing manure 
on wheat ground, I got out thirty one loads in a 
day and wo stopped work at six o’clock. Rut I 
don’t stop drawing when the easy pitching ends. 
Every corner hi tho paved barn-yard and under 
the sheds is scraped and the serspingn put on 
the wagon. The very last loads I got wore the 
richest of all—the contents of deep pockets where 
the valuable portions of the manure have set¬ 
tled, perhaps for years. Ro soon as tho barn¬ 
yard is thoroughly cleaned, it is covered with 
straw to absorb the liquid droppings of the slock, 
to this way alargeamouut of straw is made into 
valuable manure. I aim to clenn the barn-yard 
twice a year—in spring and fall—and each time I 
am particular to have all the manure got .out. 
Doing this is by all odds the most important 
secret of good farming. Many farmers make 
large quantities of manure, but of what avail is 
it if left for years unused iu their barnyardB ? 
Those who draw manure regularly every year, 
too often leave ton to twenty loads of tho most 
valuable fertilizers while their crops suffer for 
the want of them. 
-♦♦♦- 
THOUGHTS FROM A FARM. 
LET THE FARM REMAIN UNKNOWN FOR THE PRESENT AND 
THE WRITER REMAIN INCOGNITO. 
Thought upon thought succeed each other 
and, free as air, roam hither and thither, touch¬ 
ing many subjects in their course. 
Tbe English farm which is annually cropped 
and tho whole produco sold by auction and taken 
away, is said to pay well, although every con¬ 
stituent requisite for replacing all tho fertility 
absorbed from tho soil iu perfecting the various 
kinds of grain, straw, etc., has to be yearly pur¬ 
chased. But the thinker in this case knows that 
there must be no guess-work in the application 
of these, and consequently whoever attempts 
hero to initiate such a prosperous system of 
farming,must either thoroughly understand from 
personal experience the effect of each fertilizer 
upon tho different fields or varieties of soil, as 
well as tho losses occasioned by tho growth of 
the previous crops, or bo guided by the teachings 
of science brought to bear on his operations 
through other minds. In timo, there will prob¬ 
ably be n failure of something, either impossible 
or too expensive to be obtained by purchase; 
for if this lmuliug away of the produce every 
year is continued, certain elements which at 
present act with the stimulants furnished through 
the aid of chemistry, will become exhausted. 
Crops will then deteriorate, for with tho wise 
men of old, tho thinker thinks that ** something 
cannot be got from nothing." 
Tho chemists attached to Statu Colleges might 
be of immense advantage to the country if they 
would teach practically the effects ol' all kinds of 
fertilizers; for whe n the if pupils al ter leaving 
college, commenced farming on their own ac¬ 
count, the knowledge they had acquired would 
soon bo disseminated through the country. In 
a short time tlio advantages of chemical instruc¬ 
tion would, in this way, ho brought homo to or¬ 
dinary farmers, and ere long, not only could 
evory cue tell tbe true condition of Ills soil, 
but ho would also know exaotly what was lack¬ 
ing in its composition, which if supplied would 
render it first-class. 
Chemists who really understand their business 
might be of vast benefit to agriculture, for not 
only could they determine tho adaptability of 
land to each crop from an analysis of its compo¬ 
sition, but they .should also bo ublo to decide 
what kind of fertilizers would bo most conducive 
to an abundant crop of ftuy kind upon any par¬ 
ticular soil. By the practical application of this 
knowledge to agriculture, each field could bo 
kept, in good condition for growing what was 
desirable without the labor and coat of applying 
manures which are now often useless or even 
sometimes injurious, as regards tho special crops 
they are intended to benefit. 
If a chemical knowledge of this kind wore 
broadly diffused, ono might judge of tho state of 
a farm, as easily as he could of t he contents of a 
store by examining its shelves and drawers. In¬ 
deed a large farm may ho as meager and poverty- 
stricken as an empty store; and a couple of young 
men with no capital, ono iu an empty store and 
tho other on a poor, worn out farm, the thinker 
thinks, are iu pretty near the (■ amo condll ion. But 
if tho latter had a knowledge of agricultural chem¬ 
istry and an acquaintance with practical farming, 
including planting, stock-raising, and the value of 
animals, lie would need hilt a small start from 
somo source to insure final success. 
It behooves every gontloman blessed with 
abundant means and leisure, to do as much as 
possible by scientific experiments to help his 
poorer neighbors whoso limited resources debar 
them from expensive undertakings, however 
promising tho results may appear. This may bo 
easily accomplished by men of wealth without 
incurring any trouble and be made a source at 
1 once of profit and amusement. Old grass lauds 
afford excellent opportunities for touting the 
value of different stimulants; the growth of 
roots and a careful investigation of their effects 
when fed to stock, would readily determine their 
relative value, whilo agricultural chemistry 
could be beneficially popularized by a series of 
experiments going to show how its teachings and 
those of practical experience closely harmonize. 
THE MORE HASTE THE LESS SPEED. 
Perhaps it is because wo have just hada prac¬ 
tical illustration of this fact iu our experience, 
whereby a little unnecessary haste caused us a 
full day's labor anil no little annoyance, that wh 
feel moved to mulco a few comments upon it. 
Tho agriculturist, as much as any niaii, has rea¬ 
son to remember this old proverb; for, while his 
occupation nifty not furnish so many instant ex¬ 
amples of its truth, the effects of undue haste 
are slowly working day after day, and often it is 
years before its final and eomploto result becomes 
apparent. 
A lute Bpring sometimes delays a farmer’s work 
until, as he says, it all comes on together. The 
farm hands are entreated to hurry, and tho field 
of ten acres is plowed iu the time that should 
have been bestowed upon eight. Tho furrows 
, arc unit her deep enough nor nicely turned. Rut 
nature never remonstrates -she bides her time. 
Under this treatment, the soil refuses to yield 
■ its best, aud the result of tindue haste is seen at 
the time of harvest. For every hour of extra 
timo spent in preparing tho ground for any crop, 
nature will return the value of a full day's work, 
a-d often tea times as much. 
Take, for example, the planting of an apple 
tree. Ouo man digs ft hole not quite largo enough 
to accommodate the roots without bending and 
cramping them; then takes the tree as it 
came from tho nurseryman, sets it in the 
hole, turns and twists it to adapt it, in a meas¬ 
ure, to its new position, fills up the hole and con¬ 
siders tlio work done. 
His neighbor takes his tree and first examines 
the roots, cutting off smoothly all broken and 
bruised end i aud pruning in such as seem too 
long. Tho space required by the roots is his 
measure, and in accordance with it he digs the 
hole, which is made of sufficient size, both in 
width and depth to allow the roots to occupy 
their natural position. The manure having been 
well mixed in the hole, the tree is set with regard 
to both roots aud top. Often it will fccem bett 
to securely fasten the larger roots m their places 
by wooden pins or hooks. Tho soil is replaced 
carefully, that no root tnay be left without, iu 
all places, touching it; and that Ibis may be 
made sure, after the roots are well covered, ho 
slowly vvt ts it down with a pailful or two of 
water. I bis done, and the remainder of the soil 
replaced and carefully pressed about the stem, 
the rapid arid,’healthy growth of the tree ia well- 
nigh insured. He lias spent in planting his tree 
1 considerably more time than his neighbor, but 
